U.S. Prison Is Exactly Where They Belong

There are prisoners remaining in Guantánamo who are responsible for murders against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, which is exactly why they should be in U.S. prisons.

If we are trying to honor the memory of victims of Sept. 11, then doesn’t justice demand we try and imprison the terrorists responsible for their deaths within the U.S. penal system? The victims of terrorists deserve an open and transparent trial where those responsible for their deaths are held to full account in the light of day (note that some version of a military commission could accomplish this when necessary).

Not every prisoner in Guantánamo is guilty of violating U.S. law. However, for those who can be tried, they should absolutely be brought to the United States. I’ve never heard so many supposed believers in American exceptionalism doubt our ability to securely imprison a couple hundred individuals. The NIMBY (not in my backyard) grandstanding by the U.S. Senate is actually an act of extreme diffidence and does a disservice to the victims of Sept. 11.

The reason Guantánamo is offensive to our (and even — gasp! — European) values is that it looks like we have little interest in justice; we’ve rounded up prisoners, kept their identity and crimes concealed and threatened to hold them indefinitely. This is not what justice, or a just war, looks like.

The views expressed in this blog do not represent the views or opinions of Generations United.